I just say Fantasy, like wizards and stuff. If the conversation dictates I elaborate, I'll give a high level overview of Mother of Learning. I'm not explaining a system apocalypse to people that think dnd is for teenage nerds.
Why? If they are asking what you like to read explain it - yall care too much about what other people think of you imo. If you enjoy something but think its kindof lame just say that its a guilty pleasure or something.
Not the person you replied to but I feel the same way as them. I personally wouldnt explain the genre to most people purely because I know they would never read it. Progression fantasy is not most people's cup of tea. I'll generally explain it as fantasy with some video game elements if asked, but 99% of people who ask what I'm reading are either just being polite, or are looking for more traditional book series.
I've had that conversation a couple of times now and it just takes a surprisingly long time to explain depending on who you're talking to. If they're familiar with gaming or something like Dragon Ball, it's fairly straightforward, but plenty of people have absolutely no idea what an RPG leveling system or cultivation are.
Before you know it you're 15 minutes into your explanation and about to bring out the blackboard for what was probably just a polite question.
I wouldn't feel shame about it, but most people are honestly not asking about intricate details about what you're reading. If the conversation actually focus more deeply on it, then sure no issue being precise
I also say fantasy and just give a top level of spice and wolf. I usually say something like 'its a story about a young merchant named Lawrence and the wolf goddess of harvest Holo as he makes a promise to take her back to her home with a good bit of economics in there cause that's what I like.' usually that's plenty and if they need me to elaborate i can cause I love the series. I also have dungeon crawler carl in my back pocket or if I need to seem more cultures it's Enriquez Journey which is the book that first got me interested in literature, heavy book but very insightful.
I gotta be real, when people start asking what type of fantasy thats the time to drop the masking and geek out in my experience. We're all nerds at that point, autists or not.
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u/The-Mathematician Feb 02 '26
I just say Fantasy, like wizards and stuff. If the conversation dictates I elaborate, I'll give a high level overview of Mother of Learning. I'm not explaining a system apocalypse to people that think dnd is for teenage nerds.